About

Ideas are easy, ideas are common; everyone gets multiple fantastic ideas in their lifetime! However, every idea comes with an expiry date. Most good ideas don’t even see the light of day and die natural deaths when their time is up.

Ideas *R Us is a Think Tank based out of Bangalore, India. We bring ideas to life, giving them a chance to shine and be noticed so their expiry dates may be rewritten. Founded by Avi, George and Amitha, Ideas *R Us currently develops concepts and ideas around PLAY, WRITE and EAT. Go ahead explore our ideas and talk to us if any of them interest you. We believe collaboration is the only way to make ideas grow and fulfill their dreams.

Interested in finding out about our founders? Scroll down to read about Amitha Singh, Nirmal George and Avinash Singh.

Amitha Singh is a writer, mentor, digital marketeer and entrepreneur with over 2 decades of professional experience. Amitha is a Cherie Blair Foundation Mentor and also has to her credit a certificate in Writing Identities and Social Issues in Poetry and Plays from the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.

Nirmal George is a senior marketing & operations professional and an entrepreneur with over 2 decades of experience. Currently working on unique food concepts, George was till recently part of a core team in the baking industry that created, launched and successfully ran the operations and sales for brands such as AttaGalatta and Bagels & Bakes for 7 years.

Avinash Singh is a designer by qualification as well as profession who spent over 19 years in the business of Internet Marketing. He has also been a visiting faculty member for 6 years at National Institute of Design, Bangalore teaching a module in Game Design

Mythos, the Superstition Game is a card game focused on superstitions of the world; it is a game where losing (your superstitions) means winning the game! A multi-player game for 2-10 players, ages 5+ years.

The first idea of creating games came when we noticed our children and their friends play hand cricket, a game rarely understood by parents and other adults around. This got us thinking that there are no games made for India/Indian children, games that can help parents and children bond over a common platform. Thus was born our first game, Oddreve, a card cricket game and we began our game journey.

Keeping the family and children at the core, our intention is to bring families back to the living room with an aim to bring children and adults together away from television, the mobile phones or the internet! We would love it if our games brought families together in a fun manner while ensuring that the games are also cognitive and thinking games.

We try to create games that also have a social inclination and relevance in the society we live in.

Today we live in a world taken over by screens of varying sizes. It is not an uncommon sight to see toddlers to young adults glued to smart phones, tabs and what not. While the advent of technology has brought about many positive changes in our lives, it has also brought about negative effects in our society such as depression, loneliness, low self-esteem and more in children; not to mention a recent increase in suicides around various online challenges.

If parents are able to spend even 30 minutes a week with their children playing a round of a board or card game, the communication channels that open up is bound have an immensely positive impact for the entire family.

Write

Amitha is a Digital Marketer, Writer & Mentor with over 2 decades of experience across industries, including multiple entrepreneurial stints, with an extensive focus on Branding & Digital Marketing. Her professional life sees her as marketing consultant and a mentor for young women professionals while the writer in her says, ”she writes because she does not have a choice, it is who she is.”

Amitha is a Cherie Blair Foundation Mentor and also has to her credit a certificate in Writing Identities and Social Issues in Poetry and Plays from the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. She is currently based in Bangalore consulting with various organizations including one focused on bettering the lives of senior citizens. She is also the co-founder of Ideas ‘R Us. While her debut book titled “A Simple World, A Simple Rule” was published in January 2018, Amitha writes poetry, some of which she publishes on her blog and continues to work on two fiction-based novels. As a writer, her dream is to be able to share stories that impact readers into positive action and which become an integral part of their lives. She is passionate about creative writing, sports, working with children, storytelling, reading and food.

Debut Book: A Simple World, A Simple Rule

Amitha’s debut book titled, ”A Simple World, A Simple Rule” celebrates life, emotions and the journey of the human spirit. With tales of happiness, angst, philosophies of life, social issues and more, this collection of poems will get you thinking, introspecting and enjoying words a little bit more than you did before. While this is Amitha’s first work published in print form, she has been writing and sharing her works, including short stories and poetry since 2006 on her blog amithasingh.blogspot.com

Blog: amithasingh.blogspot.com

Amitha began publishing her writing on a blog in 2006 as a way to share her words with friends and family. Today she continues to publish some of her ongoing works on the blog as a means to continuously share her written words with all those who have been there to push her and support her in her journey as writer.

Explore some ‘read-aloud stories’ for children, poetry and more… Explore the blog

Manuscript in Progress: Working Title “Unwept Tears, Untold Stories”

This is a series of stories about different young women who live life and are thrown in to different situations by society. Regardless of socio economic backgrounds and the time periods they live in, the theme of these young lives are of struggling against odds. Do these women manage to come out triumphant at the end?

Sample Reading

Eat

People will travel great distances for good food. If there is one thing that binds great friendships, it is food. Our co-founder Nirmal George’s cooking is legendary, known for his prowess at cooking classic dishes to his penchant to find the best cultural food in any place; it was only natural for us to nurture food ideas in our Think Tank. Most recently, George was part of the core team that created, launched and successfully ran the operations and sales at Spell Foods & Leisure Entertainment for brands such as Bagels & Bakes. Over the years George has dabbled in various food concepts in Bangalore to get a feel for the market including a midnight food delivery business long before it was even a concept (way back in 2010) and even successfully ran a Biryani kiosk in a mall! George currently consults for new brands in the food space in addition to being the co-founder of Ideas *R Us.

Our primary idea with our EAT concepts is to create good food experiences in simple and easy to scale formats.

NIDO BREADS

Ideas *R Us owns and markets this line of bread and baked products through general trade, leading supermarket chains and retail stores across Bangalore. Our products are widely appreciated for their genuine pricing, uncompromising health standards and consistency in taste.

Interested in our Nido Breads? For all business queries please write to george@ideasrus.in

Khali Thali

Khali Thali is a new food concept that at its core works on the simple idea of daily home food for the tired and option-less working professionals. The first Khali Thali is coming soon in Bangalore.

Interested to know more about Khali Thali? Reach out to george@ideasrus.in to start a conversation and explore opportunities to collaborate with us on this.

BaseKamp

If you like food experiences and travel, BaseKamp is certainly an experience you will love. Coming soon in Bangalore…

Interested to know more about BaseKamp? Reach out to george@ideasrus.in to start a conversation and explore opportunities to collaborate with us on this.

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News and Events

Team Ideas *R Us at The India Game Developer Conference 2018

Dec 01, 2018

Catch us at The India Game Developer Conference 2018 in Hyderabad, India this December! Join us as we share our journey in the board games space and explore new ideas for collaboration and disruption in India. [know more on the IGDC 2018 official website]

Ideas *R Us to showcase 7 games at Spiel 2018

Oct 01, 2018

Catch us at Spiel ’18 in Essen, Germany this October! You will find us at the author’s table in hall 5, booth 5H131. Come say hello and play 7 of our games that are being showcased here [visit Spiel ’18 official website]

Cops and robbers in your living room

Feb 10, 2018

A Bengaluru-based company is working on converting popular informal games into more contemporary board or card games [read the entire article]

Unwept Tears, Untold Stories (SAMPLE READING)

(START OF SAMPLE READING)Stars above tell their stories…Though you don’t lend them your ear,They sing out in all their glory!Stories of every smile and every tear.

NayanaSaturday, June 22, 1996I dreamt I was falling off a cliff. I woke up and found myself in a valley, on a full moon night. Strangely, I wasn’t afraid. It seemed right. I was to be here… and be here now. I walked alongside a stream. The air seemed fresh and I could feel the cool dew on my bare arms as I walked.I walked alone with only my memories for company. A childhood filled with laughter and sorrow; probably not in equal measures. My youth filled with risks to break away from everything. I remember this morning being different from others. I was with friends, out on a trip. Or were they mere acquaintances?

I turn 21 in two months to the date. I am young and my whole life lies ahead of me. But, I digress…Yes, they were acquaintances but this was to be a fun trip with them nevertheless. Most of them were faces I had grown accustomed to while I was breaking away from bonds weighing me down.I was an accident, Amma reminded me at least once every other day… an unwanted child, she would say. My siblings were both older than me, Radha by 12 years and Akash by 14 years. They were from a different planet altogether so far as I was concerned. Akash an accomplished doctor in a faraway land and Radha an IT professional married off into a wealthy family. Akash had moved to a different country to study when I was 2 and Radha moved to boarding school a year later. There were no annual family reunions or festive celebrations to speak of, not any that I could remember. They had broken free altogether long before I could even create a bond or get to know either of them.

I was left alone; Alone… to fend for myself. I didn’t complain. I smiled every day, especially in front of people and particularly in school. I would always be the first person to reach school and usually the last one to leave. There were days when I would be so lost in my thoughts sitting under my favourite mango tree oblivious to time or place. There were notes sent to my parents at regular intervals. I dreaded those! Not because I feared what the teachers or the principal might tell them but because my parents would never come. Instead, I would get a good whipping with Appa’s favourite belt at home and in school the teachers and principal would continue to single me out reprimanding me for not bringing my parents. This single figure standing outside class as punishment was a very common sight. At first it bothered me a lot, the feeling of desolation and abandonment… Slowly I stopped letting it bother me. I discovered it was the ideal time to let my thoughts wander and take me away to far off places and be lost in a dimension my own.

I would dream of a life filled with butterflies and fields of marigold, a life filled with laughter and no forced smiles to hide the hurt. I could not wait to grow up. I dreamt of finding myself a great life, a loving family and a bunch of friends to take me away from the burdens of life at home.

When I was little, no more than three, I remembered a lot of screaming and shouting at home and I thought it was normal. But then I began going to school and listening to other children as they spoke about home. I noticed the sharing of stories… of many happy moments at home. The sweets and crackers during Diwali, the gifts they got for Christmas, the games played with siblings, summer vacations in hill stations or beaches and so much more. I felt left out.

This was when it began; the lying, I made up stories of a happy home, loving parents, protective and caring older siblings. It was easy because both Akash and Radha had already been products of the same school; both extremely popular and successful in their time. Both with exemplary records in everything, be it academics, sports, cultural activities, debating, name it and their name was etched on the walls of fame. It was only natural for everyone to believe I came from a happy home and had these two wonderful siblings to care for me. I rarely made close friends, scared the truth about my life would be exposed.

One day in the summer of 1983 when I was nine years old, I sat lost in my world under the mango tree when a boy walked towards me and sat on the bench. He sat there for a while before asking “Oi! Why do you always have a smile on your face? Are you sad about something?”

I didn’t think he was talking to me and only looked up when he repeated himself. I recognized the face from my class although I had never interacted with him. When I looked up, it felt good; first, because I was noticed and second, because someone saw beyond the façade of my smile.

I was tempted to spin my usual tale of lies, this time though for some unknown reason I resisted the urge. Instead, “How do you know I am sad?” I asked curiosity getting the better of me. “My Ajji says if someone is smiling all the time but not talking much, it means they are in a lot of pain.” He responded casually kicking aside a stone. “Wow! Your ajji is right. I am in pain but I don’t know if it is a lot.” I blurted out before I could stop myself. “Of course she is right. Ajji also says if you talk about your pain, it will not cause your heart to bulge up and burst.” He laughed using his hands to show a bomb blasting into pieces adding a “Badaaam!” for effect. “Oh! I don’t want my heart to burst like that!” I responded involuntarily adding “My Amma hates me. I don’t know why. And I am scared of Appa. My Anna and Akka don’t even who I am. I feel very sad at home. May be I am a very bad girl.” And before I knew it I was sobbing uncontrollably. “Crying is good for your heart, it lightens it and doesn’t let it bulge up, my Ajji says.” He said as he thrust a handkerchief into my hands. I burst out like a dam, full at its seam, waiting to overflow, to just let go. I told him about home; a little bit of everything, Amma’s hatred towards me, my siblings abandoning me and Appa’s belt. He didn’t ask me any specifics of what went on at home; instead he listened and nodded.

He let me ramble on. No discomfort. Before I knew it, I was blowing my nose in to the handkerchief and wiping the flow of tears. Once I was spent from all the crying, he finally offered his hand with a, “My name is Daya. What’s yours?”

“I am Nayana.” I responded, stretching out my hand and making way for the first friend in my life.

We were best buddies from thereon. Daya would keep me company on the bench every afternoon, mostly in silence. However, every single day there was one question he would ask in varied forms, “Are you okay?” “How are you feeling today?” “Do you feel like laughing or crying today?”

Being asked how I was made me feel happy. Wanted. Safe.

“Oi! What are you doing?” Daya asked me one day walking up to me, as I sat day dreaming. “Nothing… Just dreaming.” I replied, still partly lost in my parallel world. “With your eyes open? That is so cool!” he squealed adding “what are you dreaming about?”

“Just some silly things.” I was afraid Daya would laugh at me if he knew what my dreams were. “Ajji says you must never stop being silly and dreaming silly dreams. Otherwise you will get older than your years with no hair behind your ears, she says” His eyes gleamed as he tugged at my arm with a “Tell me what it is. I also want to know and maybe I will be able to dream some silly dreams too. Ajji tells me my dreams are all too serious. Mostly I dream of growing up and being like Appaji. She says I will grow old too soon if I don’t learn to do silly things and dream silly dreams soon. So tell me your silly dream!”

“Actually I was dreaming I was chasing a huge butterfly, the size of an eagle, in a marigold field. It had great, big wings with all the shades of green, even neon green!”

“Like my shoe laces?” interrupted Daya

“Yes. Like your shoe laces… and its body was the brightest purple I have ever seen! I was attracted to it like a magnet and couldn’t stop running behind it even as it whooshed its wings creating enough wind to blow my hair all over my face.”

“Whoa! How big was the marigold field? Did you catch the butterfly? Were you the same size as you are now? Or were you also bigger?” Daya was unstoppable with his questions.

(END OF SAMPLE READING)

Manuscript in Progress: UntitledFrom the author: “These are stories waiting to be told. Every day I wake up with these stories in my mind, each character getting bigger and more distinct, taking up most of the storage space in my mind. They need to be told, they need to live their own lives so I can live mine, without them in my head. I give you these stories so they can inspire you, entertain you, bore you or live with you forever. So here I am with these stories… Some of them are so real that they aren’t true and some of them are so untrue that they just might be real.”This untitled book is a story of a family whose life is struck by a tragedy so deep that none of them remember it… Or do they?

Read Sample ChapterTo connect with the author email amitha@ideasrus.in or follow her on Twitter @amithasingh